Talk:Vampire bat/Archive 1

Archive 1

Species Differences?

"The three species are quite different from each other, and are therefore placed within different genera (no other species are currently classified in any of the three genera concerned). But they are related. ... They are ... now grouped as a subfamily, the Desmodontinae within the Phyllostomidae."

- Can anybody give brief info on the differences (or for that matter similarities) between the genera? -- 24 October 2005

The description of diet is totally WRONG. Only _Desmodus_ feeds exclusively on blood. The others eat insects to varying degrees. I will look up the papers but this really needs to be changed ASAP. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cthompson (talk • contribs) 23:23, 19 April 2010 (UTC) I love men —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.154.88.16 (talk) 17:50, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Convergent Evolution

"A recent study found that vampire bats can, in addition to walking, run at speeds of up to 1.2 meters per second. This is an example of convergent evolution."

- It isn't obvious to the lay person why this should be considered an example of convergent evolution. Can anyone clarify? -- 24 October 2005

I guess vampire bats can run faster than their bat ancestors, and this is an example of convergence with other fast-running animals. It's a poor example, though, so I've removed it. --Townmouse 21:44, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

In Folklore?

It would probably also be good to include a brief section on the idea of the sanguivorous bat in folklore -- 24 October 2005

And also:

• which animals the 3 species typically prey on
• what they fed on before the introduction of European livestock, if different
• common vampire bat society, and particularly the reciprocal altruism of sharing blood

Townmouse 22:36, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

I applied some folklore information with there use in horror movies.--1Candice (talk) 22:08, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Running vs Flying

"Running and walking are the primary way in which vampire bats approach their prey," says the article. I always kind of assumed they flew. Perhaps the article could be a little clearer on this point, for the benefit of those of us who know nothing about bats? — Haeleth Talk 22:53, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

I don't know enough to be authoriative, but my understanding is that common vampire bat flies around until it finds its prey (or host, to be more precise), then lands close by and scampers up to it. The bat bites and begin feeding, but retreats temporarily if the prey attacks. I have a feeling the parasites may also climb onto their victims, but I don't clearly remember.

I have added a couple of links to the Nature article referenced. There is a video showing a vampire bat bounding along rather like a gorilla, but even more so.

--Townmouse 22:08, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

I've seen a video of a vampire bat that landed about ten feet from its prey, got down on its belly and then lowcrawled up to the victim. Sneaky little things. 152.16.188.107 07:54, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

removed: eating cry

Whoa, whoa, TELL me no one has noticed this: "You might think vampire bats do not suck blood, but as stated in the first sentance they truly do. They swoop down of of their branches, screech their "eating cry," extend their teeth and suck the blood of harmless humans. Most deaths of humans and small animals occured from a vampire bat attack. Their favorite small animal to feast on is the oppossum. Vampire bats are only found at night, because they will disintigrate in the sunlight. Every other week they turn into vampires (below). They take the human form and suck blood from small animals and unsuspecting humans. However, in human form they do not screech. Wikipedia loves you and hopes you will come back for more information!" As the Beastie Boys might say: "Sabotage". Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be deleting that. 66.82.9.86 03:45, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Hunting by breath sounds

There's an interesting Nat Geo article on how Vampire Bats can recognise different breathing sounds and therefore return to the same individual on consecutive nights. There article is here. Jack 02:55, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

removed: Sipp's house

I removed a bit of vandalism, but I thought it was kind of funny, so I'll include it here. Who do you suppose Sipp is? or Charles Payne?

 Also found in East Prairie Missouri at Sipp's house.
*Charles Payne Maintenance Man East Prairie, Missouri R-2

brain 06:10, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

== Blood Types?

This has been gnawing at me for a couple days now. I was learning about different kinds of blood types, and I was thinking, what kind of blood types do vampire bats have? They must be able to consume any kind of blood type? Or does that not matter, because they're just eating blood for food. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.168.219.77 (talk) 04:34, 11 May 2007 (UTC).

It doesn't make any difference because the blood consumed doesn't enter the internal environment of the bat's body, so it wouldn't set off a specific immune response. It isn't like a blood transfusion, where the donor's blood enters the recipient's actual bloodstream.

Nineteenthly 21:33, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism with possible poorly expressed truth

I removed some vandalism, but at the end of the sentence it said "they go poopy every 8-10 months." I can't find a reference to how often they defaecate, but if anyone knows if that's true, maybe they should put it back in expressed in a more sensible manner. Nineteenthly 21:29, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Bat size?

Should there be a section where the size of the vampire bat (height, weight, wingspan, etc.) is explained? Blahmaster 00:32, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

Ghost Bats

I have just removed the phrase "are also known as Ghost Bats" as Ghost Bat is the common name for another species - Macroderma gigas, also known as the Australian False Vampire Bat, which lives in Australia. See: http://www.australianfauna.com/ghostbat.php and the Wikipedia article Ghost Bat. John Hill (talk) 05:27, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Role in the spread of disease

This section seemed to need a bit of work so I added some new references and took part of the section on pathogens from the main article on bats. It is still not perfect but I belive it to be better than before.

Also could we get rid of the Red Question-mark tag at the top of the page? It looks like there is now a list of references and many inline citations. Colincbn (talk) 04:41, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

Removed as per Wikipedia:Be bold. Colincbn (talk) 17:52, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Injected? Really?

The article states that the bat's saliva is "injected" into the victim's bloodstream. That's pretty interesting. I didn't know the bats mirrored mosquitoes so thoroughly. A source for this would be really great. 97.104.210.67 (talk) 03:09, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

Hi! I just read your note and thought I should write. I think your query probably arises from your interpretation of "inject" which can have quite different shades of meaning (see the entry on the Wiktionary at: [1]). As the Vampire bat article points out, the saliva of vampires contains an anti-clotting agent which allows them to lap up the blood. I think it is fair enough, therefore, to state that vampires "inject" (in the wider sense of the term) their saliva when they bite their victim - the saliva presumably enters the wound from the teeth and from the close contact with the tongue and mouth.

It may be of some interest to give a few details of their eating habits here. Many years ago (c. 1960) I had the job of regularly feeding a number of vampire bats which were being studied as part of a rabies control program at the Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory. We used to draw blood with a hypodermic syringe from the ears of rabbits (they have a nice large vein in their ears which is easy to draw blood from) and then have to vigorously shake it in a test tube with small glass balls to break up the fibrinogen in the blood so that it did not clot, and then pour it into petri dishes from where the captive vampire bats lapped it up. I should add that vampires have razor-sharp teeth - so sharp that one hardly felt when they bit you (this is from personal experience - luckily I did not contract rabies!), and so animals (and sometimes humans) would often not wake up when bitten at night. Also, vampire bats tend to return night after night, particularly with tethered domestic animals, such as donkeys and cows, to the same spot on the animal and just lift the scab from a previous bite to access more blood. Cheers, John Hill (talk) 11:45, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

Desmoteplase

The very last bit on desmoteplase being tested in patients should probably be updated. Human clinical trials using desmoteplase as a base for strokes have been found to be no better than placebos. The trials concluded at the end of 2008. I don't have any links on me but simply google desmoteplase failed trial and you'll get the results and official pages so you can cite it. 204.78.0.199 (talk) 00:16, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Not totally on blood?

The opening paragraph says theres are 3 species that feed exclusively on blood. Are there other species that feed on blood at all? If so it should be mentioned IceDragon64 (talk) 22:45, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Role in fictional horror movies?

Criticising Twilight on a page discussing bats? May aswell mention that batman shouldnt have a utility belt, or hang around with a robin. Twilight is known to disregard the traditional vampire fiction and/or folklore but this should be highlighted more relevantly on the pages regarding fictional vampires. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.142.34.2 (talk) 20:34, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Rewritten. This article is about bats, and this section should relate the connections between vampire bats and fictional vampires. Colincbn (talk) 02:00, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Vampire Bats and "Vampires"

Except for a fleeting reference to fictional vampires at the top of the page to explain the name, it seems fairly unencyclopeadic to talk about them at any great length. The most recent revision of the article adds nothing of value to an article on vampire bats. Do people feel there is a reason to keep the current vampire section in (or any future such section for that matter)? Stephen Knight (talk) 00:32, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

I agree, the info on mythological "vampires" should, I believe, be moved to a new article of its own. A very brief mention here, and a link, is certainly enough for an article on bats.John Hill (talk) 06:34, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

I don't see a problem with the current section. It was much longer in the past and had no relation to the animals at all. The current bit is correlating the myth and the animal, and I think it is a benefit to the article. I don't think it should ever get any bigger than it is now, but the myth is major cultural aspect of how people feel about the animal and it certainly deserves some coverage here. There is already a link to the main article on mythological vampires at the top of the section for those who want to read up on them more deeply. Colincbn (talk) 18:07, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I changed the section title to be more accurate, and to conform to other pages that have "Role in fiction" sections. Colincbn (talk) 18:13, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

This sentence is erroneous, "As influenced by the actual vampire bat the most common method is piercing a hole in the victim's neck with sharp fangs and sucking blood from the pierced area." As the Vampire article points out, Vampire Bats were unknown in the Old World during the period vampire mythology grew widespread. It is merely a coincidence that bats were associated with vampires and then a bat that fed on blood was discovered. They had no influence on how a mythological vampire feeds. As such, I changed the wording. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.89.85.137 (talk) 22:55, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

Pest control measures

I recall seeing a television documentary 6-10 years ago about vampire bats wherein it was said that Central American cattlemen wipe out colonies of vampire bats when they discover them and set out fresh blood bait laced with poisons that the bats take back to the colony and transfer to their neighbors via their habit of grooming themselves and others. The desire is to wipe the species out entirely, if possible, due to the toll in human life and loss of livestock that they cause. A section about this aspect of vampire bats would be in order. — Quicksilver^{T @} 00:55, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

:)

I'm glad vampire bats are not in Kansas. --DontYouDareBlockMe88 (talk) 05:22, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Human health

Only 0.5% of bats carry rabies. However, of the few cases of rabies reported in the United States every year, most are caused by bat bites.[19] However, no vampire bat species are known to live in the United States. The highest occurrence of rabies in vampire bats occurs in the large populations found in South America. However, the risk of infection to the human population is less than to livestock exposed to bat bites.[20]

Anyone care to take a stab at salvaging this? Krushia (talk) 23:45, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

remove clarity tag

I propose to remove the clarity tag. The section on infrared location is too technical and needs work, but in general, I don't think the article deserves the clarity tag__DrChrissy (talk) 16:40, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Bats in media

Indiana Jones and the temple of doom

Willie: "What big birds!"

Indy: "Those are not birds honey, those are giant vampire bats"

Meanwhile riding elephants in India.

Shouldn't be possible, should it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wedinm (talk • contribs) 08:24, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

And in the article for fridges, we should mention it's possible to survive a nuclear blast and the following hundreds-of-meters long flight and impact with the ground :P Hehe. Hollywood is never to be trusted :) Some of the biggest myths in the world are propagated by movies (and non-scientific TV shows). I was pleased to learn vampire bats live only in Central and South America, and I believe Indians and anyone else who doesn't live in Central/South America would be happy if they knew blood-drinking vampires DON'T live in their countries. But hell, even vampire bats don't attack people, unless they are very hungry and people are deeply sleeping. So bats are only dangerous when there are big numbers of them, and they are startled and you are near them while they fly like crazy due to panic. But Hollywood HAS to think of all bats as blood-drinking monsters that will kill you in a second... Sorry for the long answer, but basically you are right, there are no vampire bats anywhere close to India, at least not freely roaming in the nature... Only in zoos, etc., I guess. 77.70.30.216 (talk) 22:39, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

It would be fine to briefly discuss the motif of vampire bats in popular culture, perhaps starting with Bram Stoker's Dracula. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.20.8.226 (talk) 17:09, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Clarification Of Jargon Requested

This impenetrable cipher---found in the opening paragraphs of this article---desperately needs either clarification... or to be taken out back and shot:

"A recent study has shown that common vampire bats tune a TRP-channel that is already heat-sensitive, TRPV1, by lowering its thermal activation threshold to about 30 °C. This is achieved through alternative splicing of TRPV1 transcripts to produce a channel with a truncated carboxy-terminal cytoplasmic domain. These splicing events occur exclusively in trigeminal ganglia, and not in dorsal root ganglia, thereby maintaining a role for TRPV1 as a detector of noxious heat in somatic afferents." Eunomiac (talk) 03:34, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

blood sucking bats? there real?

gross — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.26.33.81 (talk) 19:23, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

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evolution of hematophagy in bats

If not covered elsewhere, it should be covered in this article, or else linked to such coverage.

I added a section on vampire bat evolution today, including hypotheses for the evolution of hematophagy. Enwebb (talk) 20:15, 10 April 2017 (UTC)